Matthew Serbus and Dawn Pfister may have had their demons, but loved ones want to remember them for the good.

A memorial will be held this weekend for the couple, who had been together little more than a month before they were shot and killed by police after a chase in the west metro last week.

Serbus, 36, was a Maple Grove native. Pfister, 34, was from Delavan, Wis.

"The big piece for me ... is that nothing right now changes the fact that we lost Matt. We lost Dawn," said Pauly Hoffman, a longtime friend of Serbus who is organizing the memorial. "Their families don't have them ... their kids don't have their parents. We wanted some sort of closure. That's what we're trying to do this Saturday, for friends."

The memorial will be at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Maple Grove Arboretum. Hoffman said they chose the spot to honor Serbus' love of the outdoors.

A member of Serbus' family said Thursday that the family was grieving and not ready to talk to a reporter.

Pfister's family could not be reached.

Serbus and Pfister were killed Feb. 7 after an early-morning chase on U.S. 212 that began in Chaska and ended in Eden Prairie.

Police said that when their car, which was stolen, crashed into a retaining wall, Serbus and Pfister got out and Serbus had a knife and refused officers' commands to put it down.

Officers shot him.

Then Pfister picked up the knife, according to police.

She was shot, too.

The Hennepin County medical examiner said they died of gunshot wounds.

Four officers were placed on leave, and the incident was being investigated by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

There were active arrest warrants for Serbus and Pfister out of Olmsted County, where they missed a Jan. 27 court hearing. The pair was charged there Jan. 13 in connection with the theft of a Jeep from a car dealership.

The couple likely met in Wisconsin, where Serbus had been living in recent years, Hoffman said. But it was unclear why they were in Rochester in January or in Chaska last week, he said.

They had recently spent a couple of weeks in Colorado, where they camped and hiked, but Serbus intended to return to Rochester to face the charges, Hoffman said.

"I know that his greatest concern in the last couple weeks of his life was Dawn," Hoffman said. "He knew they made a bad decision in Rochester, but Matt wanted to make it right. He wanted to face the charges and take the blow for it and try to save Dawn. I know they had a short relationship, but I do know he was in love."

Serbus had struggled with drug addiction, Hoffman said of his friend.

And court records show a checkered past. Serbus had a lengthy criminal record, including forgery, theft, burglary and drug possession.

In 2006, a third-degree murder charge against Serbus in Hennepin County was dropped in connection with the death of a 29-year-old woman who died of an overdose after she and Serbus bought and used heroin and crack cocaine.

Hoffman said he lost contact with Serbus for a few years after high school, but they reconnected a few years ago and Serbus seemed to be on the right track. He'd been to rehab and had a job he really liked, Hoffman said.

Pfister also had brushes with the law. Wisconsin court records show she was charged in August with felony drug possession and in November with misdemeanor possession.

Pfister and Serbus had children from previous relationships, according to public records.

Hoffman said he could only speculate what led up to his friend's end.

"It's a horrible thing. But we all know the Matt -- the kind, loving, generous Matt we know -- is not the one who was in that predicament," Hoffman said. "It was Matt the addict who was suffering, who was trying to do right but could not control his addiction."

Even so, Hoffman said he has questions about why Serbus and Pfister are dead.

"Now the question is: How do two people get shot over one knife? What bodily harm were they going to do? How could a police officer not protect himself against a knife? ... There's so many other ways to subdue somebody."

The officers involved were identified Wednesday as Sgt. Brady Juell and officer Trent Wurtz of the Chaska Police Department; trooper Mark Lund of the Minnesota State Patrol; and Cpl. Nathan Mueller of the Carver County sheriff's office, the BCA said. All four officers were veterans, with experience ranging from nine years to 17 years within their departments.

The results of the BCA investigation will be forwarded to the Hennepin County attorney's office, which will determine whether any of the officers should be charged with a crime.

Law enforcement agencies will not comment on the case while the BCA is investigating.